Ever since she made her debut in Malayalam as a child actor, Anikha Surendran has been Malayalee's darling little girl. The popularity of the ‘I love you mummy,’ song, in which she shared screen space with the resplendent Nayanthara in ‘Baskar the Rascal’ is enough to seal her popularity in Kerala. Today she has grown into a bold and stylish woman and also makes her stunning debut in Malayalam with ‘Oh My Darling.’ Anikha talks about the film and social media….
Not a fan of Korean series
To date, I haven’t seen a single Korean series. While ‘Oh my darling’ is a film filled with humour and quirks of a quintessential Korean web series. My guru in this regard is screenwriter Jineesh K Joy. He is someone who watches Korean films and series. It is Jineeshettan who briefed me about their world, what they like and dislike, and other minute details.
That was a stylish teaser
Maybe I don’t watch the K Drama series, but I do know about their food. I am a total foodie. So I have heard of Soju or Korean Vodka. The teaser was well received. In the teaser I am showing how to drink Soju—add some salt to a plate, swirl a glass with salt, drop a green chilly inside the glass, squeeze some lemon juice, and then add Korean special item Soju, soda, and some strawberries into it. I am happy to know that the ‘Saranghaeyo’ (I love you) teaser was a big hit. 'Oh, my darling' is a never-before-seen teenage love story. We are hopeful that the audience will like the film directed by Alfred D Samuel. Melvin, Mukesh, Lena, Manju Pillai, Johny Antony, and Vijayaraghavan are the other actors in the film.
Debuting as a Malayalam film heroine
Considering this is going to be my debut as a heroine in Malayalam cinema, I am obviously nervous. While acting in ‘5 Sundarikal’ I didn’t even have an idea about the story. I was studying in 3rd grade then. It was Dileeshettan (director Dileesh Pothan) who briefed the scenes to me. I just blindly followed his instructions. But when I did ‘Ma’ I was aware of the storyline. The short film addressed teenage pregnancy.
When I was asked whether I was Ajith’s daughter
Gautham Vasudev Menon called me for ‘Yennai Arindal’ after watching ‘5 Sundarikal’. I was really lucky to be a part of such a big Tamil film. In 'Viswasam' I played the daughter of Ajith and Nayanthara. While going for promotions I have been asked if I am Ajith sir’s daughter. Ajith sir never behaves like a star and is very down-to-earth. He is so soft-spoken!
Telugu is a difficult language to crack
I learned Tamil quickly. But Telugu is a difficult language to crack. While acting in ‘Ghost’ I used to byheart all my lines before coming to the sets. If I forgot my dialogues I couldn’t possibly add anything of my own due to my ignorance of the language. Therefore I had no other option than to byheart my lines.
I don’t look at the comments
I have often been told that I am still very childish. I have only done such characters so far. So it hasn’t been really mentioned as an issue by the audience. But I have been constantly told that I am short and that they didn’t realise I was this tiny. Initially, it used to hurt me but now I am past caring. It is really sad to explain to these people about body shaming at this stage. The same goes to cyberbullying. I don’t read the comments. Why should I listen to the empty words of some random people who hardly know me?